Android Tablets

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by jgustafson6156

Bluetooth isn't allowed at competitions ether.

I'm not sure where you're getting this from. Can you cite the rule?

I know they prohibit bluetooth on the robots and operator console, but in the arena I believe they only prohibit wifi networks.

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by jgustafson6156

Bluetooth isn't allowed at competitions ether.

False. All past rules have specified wireless devices following the 802.11 standard to be disallowed, but Bluetooth and zigbee follow the 802.15 specification.

[donald_pinckney]

OP: For ideas for implementing your scouting system, you might want to checkout the post and whitepaper Team 1678 has on this thread:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=118980

We used 8 Trio Stealth Pro 7' tablets for our system and they worked kind-of ok. They functioned mostly as we expected, but you get what you pay for with Android tablets under $100. They did not support Bluetooth, which was a disappointment, but they DID support USB ethernet, which we used at the Sacramento regional. I would not recommend using USB ethernet though: it seemed somewhat unreliable and a real mess with cords. At this point in time, I would recommend increasing budget a bit to $150 per tablet, and purchasing ASUS MeMOPad HD 7s
They are pretty much just marked down previous-gen Nexus 7s, and from what I can tell the gain in quality from cheap less than $100 to $150 makes a world of difference.

At least that was my / our teams experience, maybe it will be different for you.

Good luck!

[protoserge]

I might as well plug our Android app. It is available on Google Play here. Check it out and see if it is a useful tool for you. We welcome any feedback!

We will be instituting a new app for next year's game. We will be releasing a video/series that describes the features of next year's app.

[hardcopi]

We stored all the data on the tablets then synced them off site. At St Louis we synced them using the bus' wifi. The other option that we are looking at this year is using an ad hoc wifi network on a laptop that will gather the data. We can just run them out to the parking lot turn on the wifi ad-hoc network and sync the data up. Not ideal, but it worked really well last year.

[Barry Bonzack]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

I'm not sure where you're getting this from. Can you cite the rule?

I know they prohibit bluetooth on the robots and operator console, but in the arena I believe they only prohibit wifi networks.

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

False. All past rules have specified wireless devices following the 802.11 standard to be disallowed, but Bluetooth and zigbee follow the 802.15 specification.

I can cite this.

In St. Louis the FRC field next to the FTC fields had to shut down all wifi AND bluetooth devices because they were causing major problems with connection. At FTC competitions we require all forms of transmission from devices to be turned off, and request all phones be put in airplane mode. At the Florida FTC Championship, we had to delay the finals match because a handheld gaming system was causing interference.

The result, the field crew now has scanners, and volunteers are sent into the stands to locate where there interference is coming from, and request the device be turned off. If the interference comes from and the stands of FRC field, they must comply too.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Barry Bonzack

I can cite this.

In St. Louis the FRC field next to the FTC fields had to shut down all wifi AND bluetooth devices because they were causing major problems with connection. At FTC competitions we require all forms of transmission from devices to be turned off, and request all phones be put in airplane mode. At the Florida FTC Championship, we had to delay the finals match because a handheld gaming system was causing interference.

The result, the field crew now has scanners, and volunteers are sent into the stands to locate where there interference is coming from, and request the device be turned off. If the interference comes from and the stands of FRC field, they must comply too.

You didn't cite a rule, you cited an anecdote. It'd be great if someone could point out the related rule as I'm not seeing it.

[Barry Bonzack]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

You didn't cite a rule, you cited an anecdote. It'd be great if someone could point out the related rule as I'm not seeing it.

There won't be a rule in the rulebook about what happens in the event you are interfering with a separate competition's robot connections.

I cited a true event that required bluetooth to be turned off at an FRC competition, and still needs to be taken into consideration if plans are being made to use a bluetooth scouting system.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Barry Bonzack

There won't be a rule in the rulebook about what happens in the event you are interfering with a separate competition's robot connections.

I cited a true event that required bluetooth to be turned off at an FRC competition, and still needs to be taken into consideration if plans are being made to use a bluetooth scouting system.

That's unfortunate. So teams going to champs need to read the FLL and FTC rulebook as well? That's a mess.

[Michael Hill]

Here's the specific rule.

T04
Teams are not allowed to set up their own 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz or 5GHz) wireless communication (e.g. access points or ad-hoc networks) in the venue.


A wireless hot spot created by a cellular device would be considered an access point.

It's rather specific to 802.11 wireless communications.

[Mike Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

Here's the specific rule.



It's rather specific to 802.11 wireless communications.

Originally Posted by Barry Bonzack

I can cite this.

In St. Louis the FRC field next to the FTC fields had to shut down all wifi AND bluetooth devices because they were causing major problems with connection. At FTC competitions we require all forms of transmission from devices to be turned off, and request all phones be put in airplane mode. At the Florida FTC Championship, we had to delay the finals match because a handheld gaming system was causing interference.

The result, the field crew now has scanners, and volunteers are sent into the stands to locate where there interference is coming from, and request the device be turned off. If the interference comes from and the stands of FRC field, they must comply too.

How else could they enforce compliance with people who aren't super involved, haven't read the rules, and are unknowingly violating them? I'm mainly referring to mobile hotspots, since I doubt anyone who isn't heavily involved would bring a router to an event.

[C_Morgan]

Just a quick update to the CD community. Thank you for all the feedback so far. After a cost benefit analysis Dragonking and FRC862 have narrowed it down to an IdeaTab A1000 (P/N: 59369837) which we picked up for $129.

@Donald - thanks again for the information. We are familiar with the FRC1678 approach to scouting from worlds which lead to asking ourselves how can we improve. Your white paper was also inspirational.

[solopilot]

Originally Posted by jgustafson6156

Bluetooth isn't allowed at competitions ether.

Oh come on.... Pls provide some corroboration

[solopilot]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Someone told me recently you can get one through Walmart for $69 using the internet shopping and have it shipped to a store.

Perhaps it was me?
Walmart: XELIO 7" Tablet With 4GB Memory, currently $44
I bought this, installed Google Play (get com.android.vending-4.1.6.apk).
Works fine. The screen resolution is not great, but great deal for $44.
No Work: Vibrate, compass
Works: GPS, WiFi, Accelerometer, everything else...

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by solopilot

Perhaps it was me?
Walmart: XELIO 7" Tablet With 4GB Memory, currently $44
I bought this, installed Google Play (get com.android.vending-4.1.6.apk).
Works fine. The screen resolution is not great, but great deal for $44.
No Work: Vibrate, compass
Works: GPS, WiFi, Accelerometer, everything else...

How does it feel quality-wise?